MONTEVIDEO – Uruguayan taxi drivers staging a 24-hour strike to protest the shooting of one of their colleagues will assemble Wednesday to discuss possible further steps, a spokesman for their union told EFE.

Among the proposals under consideration is extending the work stoppage for an additional 24 hours, Antonio Diez said.

The strike was called after a driver was shot late Tuesday during a robbery.

Union members will take into account the situation of the driver, who remains in critical condition, Diez said.

Another cabbie who was shot last month in an attempted robbery remains under intensive care at a hospital.

Following that incident, the drivers union mounted a protest outside government headquarters and sought a meeting with President Tabare Vazquez.

The union subsequently made a formal request for talks with Vazquez and is awaiting a response, Diez said, adding that the union plans to address the issue of cabbies’ safety in meetings later this month with representatives of the PIT-CNT labor federation and the Montevideo mayor’s office.

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